CARLEN MAY-MANN
WRITER | DIRECTOR
CARLEN MAY-MANN (they/she) is a Brooklyn-based writer and director of bold, humanistic horror and drama films. Her debut short THE RAT, a haunted house film about gendered violence, premiered at Sundance 2019. It went on to screen at the Champs-Elysées Film Festival, the Maryland Film Festival, and more before premiering online on Gunpowder & Sky’s horror platform ALTER and being selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick. THE RAT was shot by Maria Rusche (SHIVA BABY, BOTTOMS).
Carlen’s follow-up short, ROMANCE PACKAGE FOR TWO, is about a messy queer love triangle that takes place in a campy love motel. It played at Palm Springs ShortFest and NewFest 2023, and will screen at the Florida Film Festiva in April 2024. The film features Tallie Medel (EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE).
In addition to these successful shorts, Carlen has written several features that they will go on to direct. Their feature-length coming-of-age/horror screenplay STRAWBERRY SUMMER was a participant in the 2019 Sundance Screenwriters Intensive and 2019 Women at Sundance Financing and Strategy Intensive. The film is being produced by The Department of Motion Pictures (BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILDS) and has received grants from Cinereach and The Harnisch Foundation. They are currently developing FROM YOUR EYES TO MINE, a queer ghost story set in their hometown of Laguna Beach, California.
Carlen has been featured in Indiewire, The Creative Independent, and more. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wesleyan University with a degree in Film Studies and Psychology.